This is the dream of every metropolis in the world: a 240 hectare urban land reserve with good infrastructure connections, in a geopolitical top location in the heart of Europe and in immediate proximity to the growth markets of Eastern Europe. Vienna has taken advantage of this unique opportunity and launched the city’s largest building project of this century with the construction of aspern Urban Lakeside. On the grounds of the former Aspern airfield, surrounding a man-made lake, 8,500 apartments for approximately 20,000 people are being built in several construction phases. With the construction of office and commercial facilities, 15,000 workspaces will be created in the office and service industries and another 5,000 in the commercial sector, science, research and education. The goal of the planners is to realize their vision of a city where living and working will be possible in a balanced way – where business location, educational establishment, residential area and recreational space, city and nature, living in Vienna and working in Europe can be combined and develop into a vibrant, new district.

Connections across Borders

Rainer Holzer, director of the project company Wien3420 AG: “Through the development of an urban focal point on the railway line to Bratislava as well as a fast connection to Vienna’s inner city using the U2, we are taking advantage of the opportunity to further nurture the regional partnership along the Vienna-Bratislava axis, with its great economic potential and high quality of life.” Come 2020, inter-city trains will take passengers from the train station in aspern Lakeside to Bratislava’s Central Station in only 28 minutes. The two international airports of Vienna and Bratislava offer connections worldwide. At the same time, the metro line U2, which by 2013 will be extended by three more stops to reach aspern Lakeside, will take riders to the local traffic hub Karlsplatz in central Vienna in just under 30 minutes. Holzer: “This is what makes this location attractive to people beyond the Vienna city limits - as a workplace but also a residence and education location for many inhabitants of the entire region. We are also anticipating that many Slovakian nationals will settle in aspern Lakeside.”

Innovation and Research Stronghold

The standards demanded from the new district in Vienna’s north-east are high and are not fulfilled just by building residential and commercial facilities. Through the establishment of universities of applied sciences, university institutes and research facilities, aspern Urban Lakeside wants to position itself as a major research and development location at the international level. The main focus areas will be energy technologies and environmental technologies. Not just lip service, as the construction activities at the former airfield are proving: Preparations for the first project - the construction of an innovation quarter in the south-east of Urban Lakeside - are already underway. An EU-wide architectural competition for the innovation quarter will be decided in the spring of 2010. Rainer Holzer: “This project is an important instrument for attracting research-oriented businesses and R&D institutions to settle at the location. Besides high-quality office space and well-resourced facilities for technological developments, the innovation quarter will also offer shared recreational space and a centralized management infrastructure for start-ups, manufacturing businesses and office partnerships.” The Vienna Business Agency is investing 15 million EUR in the project; the ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled for late 2010.

Pioneer Work at the Innovation Quarter

Rainer Holzer can already present the first tenant at the innovation quarter: research TUb GmbH, a cooperation between the urban development company Wien 3420 AG, the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) and the Vienna Business Agency (VBA). For Sabine Seidler, deputy director for research at TU Vienna, research TUb should enable technology transfer from the university to the economy and vice versa. Seidler: “Starting point is the development of the aspern location. The expertise will already be incorporated into the process of building the new district, for example in the area of energy-efficient construction. This way, research TUb GmbH will hopefully take on a nucleus function for the surrounding R&D park and will be a prime example for the successful cooperation between science and community.”

Ecology is the Central Focus

The opportunities that the implementation of this ambitious and promising urban development project offers are manifold. aspern Vienna’s Urban Lakeside will possibly be one of Europe’s largest research projects for ecologically sustainable building. All buildings that are constructed here should meet the strict criteria for low-energy or passive house standards. And it goes a step further: Some of the building projects will even be implemented as energy-plus houses. Holzer: “This situation – the possibility of a completely new construction on a green field without having to consider old building structures – is a great breeding ground for new ideas. This is why we will turn Aspern into a centre for development of energy-efficient buildings and environmentally-friendly mobility. It is in aspern that Vienna’s urban development department will prove that there is truth to future-oriented ideas.” Holzer definitely sees a demand in the market for adequate energy solutions: “Calculations for all construction projects are tighter. Lowering the operating costs is the main concern. Financially viable solutions will quickly find interested parties in the market; this is what we are looking to develop in Aspern.” [ IN ]